China Eximbank provides RMB 1.969 billion government concessional loan for 96 km Tiébissou-Bouaké Highway Project (Linked to Project ID#66367, #66325)

On August 30, 2018, during a visit to Beijing by President of Côte d’Ivoire Ouattara, the Chinese Government and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire signed a preferential loan framework agreement for the 96 km Tiébissou-Bouaké Highway Project. Then, on September 3, 2018, China Eximbank and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire signed an RMB 1,969,000,000 (CFA 171,508,021,525) government concessional loan (GCL) agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK GCL No. (2018) 23 TOTAL NO. (665)] for the 96 km Tiébissou-Bouaké Highway Project. The GCL agreement was ratified by the Ivorian Council of Ministers on December 12, 2018 (via Décret n° 2018-924). The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. However, it is known that the borrower was to use the proceeds of the loan to finance a commercial contract between the Government of Côte d’Ivoire and China Road & Bridge Corporation (CRBC), which was signed on November 3, 2017. According to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), as of April 2022, 17 loan disbursements (worth CFA 81,378,912,345) had been made: a CFA 24,255,398,726 disbursement on March 31, 2019, a CFA 2,328,504,363 disbursement on July 31, 2019, a CFA 267,708,719 disbursement on August 31, 2019, a CFA 1,497,918,884 disbursement on October 31, 2019, a CFA 1,644,198,692 disbursement on November 30, 2019, a CFA 6,988,667,300 disbursement on December 31, 2019, a CFA 1,799,219,878 disbursement on February 28, 2020, a CFA 2,545,593,567 disbursement on March 31, 2020, a CFA 1,865,655,329 disbursement on April 30, 2020, a CFA 2,018,475,154 disbursement on May 31, 2020, a CFA 1,099,120,168 disbursement on June 30, 2010, a CFA 1,311,146,676 disbursement on July 31, 2020, a CFA 769,209,524 disbursement on August 31, 2020, a CFA 3,048,153,031 disbursement on December 31, 2020, a CFA 1,062,845,867 disbursement on March 31, 2021, a CFA 5,680,700,701 disbursement on April 30, 2021, and a CFA 15,521,452,065 disbursement on June 30, 2021. The purpose of this project is to construct a 96 km section of the two-way, four-lane, Northern Highway (Autoroute du Nord or l’Autoroute Abidjan-Frontière Nord or 北部公路) — with a design speed of 130 km per hour — between Tiébissou and Bouaké. The Tiebissou-Bouake road section consists of three subsections (known as ‘lots’): a 35 km subsection (29+450 at PK 64+450 or ‘Lot 1’); a 13.9 km subsection (known as 64+450 at PK 78+350) and a 11.726 km expressway at the entrance of Bouaké to the southern corridor (‘Lot 2’); and a 35 km subsection (78+350 at PK 113+350 or ‘Lot 3’). It also involves the construction of six interchanges, two market areas, one fuel station, a toll station, a weighing platform, eight road crossings, ten pedestrian crossings, and nine bridges (three highway bridges and six overpasses). The Tiebissou-Bouake road section is the second component of a larger highway construction project linking the cities of Yamoussoukro and Bouaké (known as the Yamoussoukro-Bouaké Road Construction Project). The first component is a road section between Yamoussoukro and Tiébissou financed by the Islamic Development Bank. The Northern Highway project aims to connect Abidjan, a coastal city on Cote d'Ivoire's southern border, to the northern border shared with Mali. CRBC is the EPC contractor responsible for implementation. A formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 29, 2018, and construction was expected to last 36 months. The Ivorian Minister of Equipment and Road Maintenance completed an on-site project inspection on May 28, 2020. As of September 2020, the project had achieved a 40% completion rate. Then, on May 10, 2021, 400 CRBC workers responsible for the construction of the Tiébissou-Bouaké highway announced a strike to demand better working conditions. Project implementation was further delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of November 26, 2021, more than 400 CRBC employees had received the two doses of the Sinopharm vaccine for COVID-19. The project is expected to reach completion on April 14, 2022.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the 96 km Tiébissou-Bouaké Section of Northern Highway Project or the Tiebissou-Bouake Section of the Yamoussoukro-Bouaké Road Construction Project. The Chinese project title is 科特迪瓦公路项目 or 铁比苏-布瓦凯高速公路. The French project title is Autoroute du Nord, Section Tiébissou-Bouaké or Le tronçon Tiébissou-Bouaké (78,5 km) or Projet de Construction de l’Autoroute Tiébissou – Bouaké. 2. CRBC is known locally as la Compagnie nationale chinoise des travaux de ponts et chaussées (CNCTPC). 3. China Geo-Engineering Corporation built the Didiévi-Tiébissou section of the Northern Highway (as captured via Project ID#66367) and China National Overseas Engineering Corporation built the Boundiali-Tengrela-Mali Border section (as captured via Project ID#66325). 4. The AMP system identification number for the loan is 1120071329394. The AMP project code is 78062000724. 5. The AMP identifies the loan commitment date as August 31, 2018 rather than September 3, 2018. This issue merits further investigation

Number of official sources

11

Number of total sources

26